Daniel Sweeney (Liberal Party of Canada)

Daniel Sweeney, notable long-term member of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Sources

All below related information obtained from public news articles published in electronic and/or print format by: the Ottawa Citizen, the National Post, the Financial Post, the Windsor Star, the Calgary Herald, the Vancouver Sun, Global News, La Presse, and other Canadian national media.

Foreign Influenced Activities in Canada

On September 25, 2010, national news in Canada's major cities reported Mr. Daniel Sweeney, a long-time member of the Liberal Party of Canada, as having been involved with official efforts to identify those foreign diplomats in Canada who might be "compromising Canadian politics" (archive 1) (archive 2) (archive 3).

...foreign diplomats are actively engaged in domestic Canadian politics in an attempt to shape policy, sometimes crossing the line from diplomacy to outright interference (Vancouver Sun, September 25, 2010).

During this time, Mr. Sweeney was a member of the board of directors of the federal Liberal party's Westmount-Ville-Marie riding association, based in Montreal, Canada.

Mr. Sweeney was also active in a Canadian provincial political party, the Quebec Liberal Party, as a cultural official.

...[Daniel Sweeney] was asked to approach foreign diplomats in order to build contacts with various expatriate communities (Calgary Herald, September 25, 2010).

Parallel to his cultural duties at the Quebec Liberal Party, Mr. Sweeney was working with the country's national intelligence service (4), (National Post, September 25, 2010, page A14).

Some of this information also appeared in The Embassy, a newspaper circulated within Ottawa's diplomatic community, September 29, 2010.

Interference in the internal affairs of Canada by foreign diplomats is prohibited by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations:

Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State. (Article 41, section 1).

Diplomats are subject to expulsion if found in contravention:

The receiving State may at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the mission is not acceptable. (Article 9, section 1).

Complaint to the Commissioner of Canada Elections

March 2010, Daniel Sweeney, a member of the board of directors of the Liberal Party of Canada's Westmount-Ville-Marie electoral district association (EDA), deposed an official complaint to the Commissioner of Canada Elections.

The complaint outlined Mr. Sweeney's concern that he could not find any original written document attesting to a 2008 loan agreement amounting to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), between the federal Liberal party's electoral district association (5) and the (then) electoral candidate.

The facts were reported in one of Canada's French daily newspapers La Presse:

Daniel Sweeney, libéral de longue date, a demandé en mars dernier au Commissaire aux élections fédérales d'enquêter sur le remboursement au député d'un prêt de 20 000 $ par l'association libérale de Westmount-Ville-Marie, prêt pour lequel M. Sweeney affirme n'avoir vu aucune pièce justificative originale... (La Presse, April 28, 2010, page A5).

The English reporting came after, in the National Post:

In March, a longtime member of the Liberal riding association of Westmount-Ville Marie submitted a complaint to the Commissioner of Canada Elections regarding the circumstances of a June 2009 payout of more than $20,000 from the riding association... (National Post, May 7, 2010, page A4).

It was later ruled by the country's elections body, that there was nothing in the national elections law, the Canada Elections Act, requiring loan agreements between candidates and electoral district associations be made in writing (6).

The ruling was published across Canada in both English and French language newspapers:

Elections Canada has ruled that no investigation...is warranted... (National Post, May 7, 2010, page A4).

The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections noted that although the law does not require a written contract in this case, the existence of a written contract would have ensured transparency and helped avoid confusion:

Nous tenons cependant à noter que, quoi que la loi n'exige pas de contrat écrit pour l'existence d'un prêt fait à l'association ou à la campagne électorale d'un candidat, l'existence d'un contrat écrit aurait favorisé la transparence et contribué à éviter la confusion. (La Presse, May 8, 2010, page A18).

The La Presse newspaper reports having obtained the official complaint ("Dans sa plainte, que La Presse a obtenue..." [La Presse, April 28, 2010, page A5]), but has never made it public in its entirety.

References

• "Diplomats wanted changes" National Post, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign Diplomats meddle" Edmonton Journal, September 25, 2010
• "Foreing Diplomats 'spying'" The Province, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats compromising Canadian politics" Calgary Herald September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats 'seek to influence Canadian politics'" Times Colonist, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats compromising Canadian politics" Ottawa Citizen, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats compromising Canadian politics" Leader Post, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats compromising Canadian politics" The Montreal Gazette, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats compromising Canadian politics" Windsor Star, September 25, 2010
• "Foreign diplomats compromising Canadian politics" The Vancouver Sun, September 25, 2010
• "Diplomats leaned on me" Embassy, September 29, 2010
• "Un membre de l'association libérale porte plainte..." La Presse, April 28, 2010
• "Élections Canada n'enquêtera pas..." La Presse, May 8, 2010

External links

• Newspapers in Canada
• Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
• Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
• Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act
• Canada Elections Act
• Elections Canada - The Electoral System of Canada
• Elections Canada - Political Financing